Electrical connectors in a variety of shapes and dimensions are presently being used in a variety of electronic devices and electronic application devices. Electrical connectors are generally used to connect electronic circuits which have been formed on circuit substrates with flat cables and other insulated wires which themselves are connected to electronic parts and electronic devices.
Electrical connectors are configured of an insulated housing and one or more electrical contacts. The number of contacts used in the electrical connector is growing all the time as electronic devices become more sophisticated and more high powered and as the density is increased due to the demand for small devices. What is more, there are two types of connection between the electric contact and the circuit substrate: (1) the lead-type which is inserted and stabilized in an opening on the circuit substrate and (2) the surface mounting type (SMT) which is connected by soldering it onto the contact pad of the surface of the circuit substrate. The technique in which lead-types are formed in a zigzag fashion to increase the density of the mounting is well known.
In spite of this, there are the following defects. Not only were manufacturing tools or press-type molds required to prepare separately the different electric contacts on the electrical connector which is used in a number of variations above, but each of the electric contacts manufactured had to be stored and taken care of separately which led to increased costs. These defects cannot be ignored since the manufacturing costs increased with the greater variety of electrical connectors manufactured.
As a result, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector and an electric contact for it which are suitable for a great variety of electrical connectors which are manufactured in small quantities.